By William Madouk
Central Equatoria State governor jets to Kajo-Keji County for a cross-border engagement with Uganda’s districts of Moyo, Yumbe, and Adjumani.
According to the gubernatorial press unit, Emmanuel Adil Anthony will have joint cross-border meetings with Resident District Commissioners (RDC) of the neighboring districts.
“The Governor of Central Equatoria State and his entourage left Juba for Kajo-Keji County ahead of the slated joint cross-border peace and security engagement with Uganda’s Resident District Commissioners of Moyo and Adjumani, respectively,” according to office of the governor.
The governor’s communication office stated that the two-day engagement is aimed at mending peace, security, and trade following the recent territorial encroachment that caused problems.
“The two-day engagement is aimed at deliberating on peace, security, and trade affairs relating to their restive common border, with emphasis on the recent territorial encroachment that triggered a standoff.”
Governor Adil was accompanied by some cabinet members, lawmakers, diplomats, heads of local government councils bordering Uganda, security chiefs, prominent politicians hailing from the area, the Secretary General of the Revitalized Transitional Government of the State, and other key government officials.
Last month, the governor of Central Equatoria State met with the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) and the feuding communities, after which thirteen Ugandans caught logging were released, while a Kajo-Keji county local chief who was also arrested was also released.
On October 3, 2023, President Salva Kiir Mayardit called for restraint and promised to discuss prospects for the resolution of the conflict at the South Sudan-Uganda border with Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
This came after the president was briefed by the governor of Central Equatoria State, Emmanuel Adil Anthony, over the volatile dispute between the communities in Kajo-Keji County and Yumbe District of Uganda over claims of land ownership.
The examiner, a Ugandan publication, also reported that President Museveni had dispatched two cabinet ministers to the border districts of Yumbe and Moyo in Uganda’s West Nile region to resolve the disputes between the two sisterly countries.
Early this month, Central Equatoria State’s Security Advisor, Angelo Daya, stated that the government had already formed a committee to resolve all the country’s border disputes.
He added that the state governor would, in the near future, hold a meeting with the Yumbe District Resident Commissioner.
The security advisor, further stated that the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) who encroached into South Sudan had already withdrawn from the territory after camping in the disputed territory inside Kajo-Keji County, adding that the few UPDF soldiers who remained were just there for security reasons.
Last month Uganda authorities of Yumbe district released a Kajo-Keji county local chief they arrested in exchange for 13 Ugandan national arrested burring charcoals in Bori boma of Kajo-Keji County.